If I had to use only 3 words to describe my Uncle Dick, it would be "Old School Fisherman". The fact was, that for most of his life, he never bought any bait of any kind. He would catch his own worms in his yard, or else where. He would go to creeks and streams and seine for minnows, and if he was using crayfish, would go to some of the same places at night, to catch soft shelled crayfish.

Now his equipment was also pretty basic too, maybe 2 to 3 poles, for various species. He had a few plugs for fishing, but not many, and then he had several sizes of hooks. He didn't buy store bought weights, but had a couple molds to make his own. His source for lead was free, as his Dad and Brother ran a vehicle repair shop. He did though, buy the makings, to make his own walleye harnesses.

He never owned a boat, and very few times in his life did he fish from someone elses boat. In those days, he mostly fished the Shenango River, and at that time the lake didn't exist until in the late sixties. The closest lakes in those days was Pymatuming Lake, Conneaut Lake, or if he was willing to go further away Lake Erie.

One of my and my son's fondest memories will always be of him. One evening he called and asked, if we would go with him and help catch some crayfish. At the time, we were all for it, and he said he would be right over. So off we go to a creek that he knew would have them. So we pull off the road, walk down over an embankment, and get to the waters edge with a flashlight, a net, and a club. My uncle has the flashlight, me the net, and my young son at the time has the club.

So with the flashlight, Uncle Dick starts scanning the water, looking for those crayfish. I see them he says, and boy are there alot of them. So into the 2 to 3 foot of water I wade with the net. He explains to me that they won't take off, as while they are in this soft stage, they arn't very capable of moving very fast.

So here we are netting almost a couple dozen of them. When all of a sudden, my uncle starts hollering. We ask whats wrong, and he says there is a water moccasin in the water. He says to me, you stay very still, and to my son, throw me the club. So the club is tossed to him, and he turns toward it, with the light shining in its eyes. We watched, as this snake was straight up out of the water about 2 feet, and with the club, he made one swift swing, and killed it. The snake was between 5 and 6 feet long. Well he says, lets get out or here, as there is probably another near by, and we don't want to go thru that again.

On the way home, my son says, hey dad, don't ever ask me to go again, and I agreed. I remember at some point, while we were on our way there, that my son had asked what the club was for. And my uncle said just in case, but never explained the just in case.